Title

Soil and Worm Respiration

Problem Scenario

Our body's use oxygen which then turns into CO2. We then breathe out CO2 which then will be put into the air. Worms however do breathe in CO2 and use that as energy for there body's and do not breathe out CO2.

Broad Question

Do worms affect the carbon dioxide?

Specific Question

Do worms affect the carbon dioxide in the air?

Hypothesis

I think the worms will have an affect on the carbon dioxide level.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

Worms ans soil.

Dependent Variable:

Carbon dioxide

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

Temperature, containers (2), light, and timing for collecting data.

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

Vernier Lab Quest Data Reader: This reader can read up to as many runs as you want.
Carbon Dioxide Gas Sensor: This gas sensor senses gases up to parts per million.

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General Plan

I put dirt in a container with some worms then measured the carbon dioxide in the air then did it again with just dirt for 9 trials.

Potential Problems And Solutions

Worms can die, worms can get out of the container. Seal the container tightly and check on worms when I put them in the bottle

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

Make sure worms don't get into the wild.

Experimental Design

Number Of Trials: Nine

Number Of Subjects In Each trial: Three

When data will be collected:

Data will be collected every 48 hrs. Except for a few runs that I did I collected the data every 24 hrs.

Number of Observations:

Two. One of them is that one of the worms died while in one of the trials. The second is that one of my worms were covered in parasites.

Where will data be collected?:

Data will be collected in the 7th grade team 1 science room.

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Where will I get this?	Estimated Cost
Poster Board	Staples	$5.00
Worms	Mr. Biche	$14.00
CO2 gas sensor	Mr. Biche	$0.00
2 Containors	Mr. Biche	$0.00
Soil (small bag)	Lows	$5.00
	Total:	$24.00

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Background Research

Earthworms or night crawlers which ever you prefer to call them are basically the same. They don't need as much description at all cause they all look the same. There are many speceis of earth worms but they can range from 2.5 to 15 cm or more in length when fully grown.
Worms are found around the United States in any loose, moist soil that they can get into. If the ground dries out then they go deeper. When the soil gets water-logged they try to get above ground and move out before they drown. Some earth worms go above soil to feed up there. Then they go back underground when there done feeding.
Worms however do not feed on plants they are actually known for there great tilling of the soil. One thing that that they are bad at while tilling -your soil is that if you newly planted some grass the worms poop will most likely kill your grass. Some castings may harden on the lawn during warm wheather leaving the lawn lumpy and crunchy. When you walk on grounds so heavlily infested it makes it fell like you are walking on ping pong balls.
These worms have an interesting repredoucing system. Worms are homosexual. Only one sex is active at a time. Both individuals will get together and share sperm. After the fact that, that happened the males become females and have mature eggs. The clitellum swells into a girdle and secretes a nurtritive liquid band. This band that holds the material is then slowly pushed through the worm itself. It then passes oer the female and it picks up the eggs and migrates to wherever it is going to go. Sperm then is added to the band and is slaughed over the head end of the worm. The worm then hardens into a cacoon. In the cacoon the sperm finally unites with the eggs. The eggs feed on the cacoon before they come out as little replicas of their parents.

References

1. ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.sciencedaily.com>.
2. "Earthworms." IPM North Carolina. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://ipm.ncsu.edu/AG268/html/earthworms.htm>.
3. http://www.biologyjunction.com/earthworm%20facts.htm#breathe

Detailed Procedure

1. Put dirt in Vernier plastic bottle up to 1500 fluid oz.
2. Place Vernier Gas Sensor in the hole of the bottle, make sure sensor is on tightly
3. Then press play on the Vernier Data Collector.
4. Wait 48 hrs. Then collect data.
5. Repeat these steps but for the second trial put ten worms into the bottle with the soil.
6. For the third just soil, and so on so forth for six more trials.

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Results

All Raw Data

Graphs

Photos

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Data Analysis

My data shows that soil has a bigger affect on the carbon dioxide levels then soil with worms.

Conclusion

I think the worms will have an affect on the carbon dioxide level. I predicted wrong, I predicted that soil with worms would have a bigger affect.

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Discussion

Soil gives off more CO2 then soil with worms so if there was more of soil then worms it would give off more CO2. CO2 is not the best for the air level.

Abstract

I put dirt into a Vernier Plastic Bottle up to 1500 and put the Vernier Gas sensor into the top of the bottle (put it on tightly) then press play on the Vernier Data Collector. I repeated these steps for the next eight trials except for the second one you put in ten worms.